Wednesday, February 29, 2012

GOVERNMENT FILES APPEAL AGAINST JUDGMENT ON MODIFIED PARITY IN PENSION

LEGAL BATTLE FOR JUSTICE CONTINUES FOR PENSIONERS

GOVERNMENT FILES APPEAL AGAINST PRINCIPAL CAT JUDGMENT ON MODIFIED PARITY IN PENSION

TO PRE 1.1.2006 PENSIONERS

The Government has filed an Appeal against the 1ST November 2011 judgment of the Principal Bench of Delhi Central Administrative Tribunal on modified parity in pension to the pensioners retired prior to 1.1.2006. You may remember that the Principal Bench of Delhi CAT had directed implementation of OM dated 1.9.2008 based on the Government's Resolution dated 29.08.2008 accepting the recommendation of 6th CPC for modified parity of pension to pre 1.1.2006 pensioners by nullifying the clarificatory orders issued subsequently that denied the real content of the 6th CPC recommendation as accepted earlier by the Union Cabinet through its Resolution dated 29.08.2008. However now the Government has filed an Appeal against the judgment of the CAT. The legal battle therefore is not over for the pensioners.

MAGNIFICENT STRIKE BY CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

CONFEDERATION OFCENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND WORK

Date: 28th February 2012

PRESS STATEMENT

The General Strike of Indian working class for which the call was given by the Central Trade Unions and endorsed by all the Federations and the Central and State Govt. Employees elicited the largest participation today. The increased participation of workers in the industrial action was indicative of the growing realization of the need to struggle against the present economic policies of the Govt. of India.

The Central Govt. employees throughout the country responded to the call admirably in as much as the strike was almost total in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur and about 80% in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and partial in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and Gujarat.

The strike was no doubt an impressive reflection of the total discontent of the employees over the various policy decisions like scrapping of the existing pension scheme, outsourcing, contractorisation and privatisation which have threatened the job security. The increasing prices of essential commodities had added to the agony and despite periodical wage increase through the system of Dearness Compensation, the employees found it difficult to make the both ends meet with the existing emoluments.

The Confederation National Secretariat while congratulating the Central Govt. Employees in general for the total co-operation in making the strike action a grand success, particularly place on record the exemplary and magnificent achievement of Income Tax Employees Federation and All India Central Ground Water Board Employees Association, who could make cent percent of their members to participate in the strike.

We once again call upon the affiliates to go ahead with the preparation of the next strike action in pursuance of the 14-point Charter of Demands which are of exclusive concern to Central Government Employees.

The time spent by government officials replying to RTI is so little that it cannot be a pretext for them to shirk that task

In August 2011, the Supreme Court made an observation which had some unintended consequences on the Right to Information (RTI) process. The judgement by Justice R.V. Raveendran is turning out to be a seemingly legitimate excuse for government officials to restrict information.

Aditya Bandopadhyay went to court when the Central Board of Secondary Education declined to provide his examination answer sheets under the RTI Act. While the court allowed access to answer sheets, it also observed that the cherished right to information should not affect administrative efficiency.

In his judgement, Justice R.V. Raveendran said: “The nation does not want a scenario where 75 percent of the staff of public authorities spends 75 percent of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the RTI Act should not lead to employees of public authorities prioritising information furnishing at the cost of their normal and regular duties.” Government officials are now using this excuse with increasing frequency saying that even the court agrees. Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi says 75 percent government staff spending 75 percent of their time on giving information would mean 56 percent (0.75 X 0.75) of their total time spent only on replying to RTI queries.

Gandhi says that at the most optimistic estimate not more than one crore RTI applications are likely to be received by all public authorities across the country in 2012. The average time to attend to each would be less than three hours. That means no more than three crore hours spent by all officials.

Assuming that an average government employee works for just six hours a day for 200 days a year, it would mean he would work for a total of 1,200 hours in a year. That means 25,000 (3 crore divided by 1,200) employees would be required full time. The Centre and all state governments have about 1.2 crore employees. So, the total time spent by government employees on replying to RTI queries would be 0.208 percent (25,000 divided by 12,000,000).

In other words, no more than 4.6 percent officials are spending 4.6 percent of their time on giving information. This is based on conservative assumptions. Surely, government officials work for more than six hours a day! Doesn’t look like they have much space to hide.

Raising the Wage Ceiling in the Employees Provident Fund, Enhancement of Pension under Employees Pension Scheme 95, Portability of PF Account, Reduction in the Requirement of Minimum Continuous Service, Etc.

Stress on Matching the Large Scale Skilling Targets with Creating Similar Number of Openings in the Area of Employment

Maternity Leave Under the Maternity Benefit Act be Increased from the Present Level of 12 Weeks to 24 Weeks

Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge today detailed about the recommendations made during the 44th Indian Labour Conference concluded at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Addressing the media persons he said this Session of the Indian Labour Conference had elaborate discussions on three agenda items - (i) Minimum Wages (ii) Social Security and (iii) Employability and Employment.

The Conference was inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. The Conference was attended by Labour Ministers from 14 State Governments. All the major 12 Central Trade Union Organisations and 6 major employers' organisation participated in the Conference. Besides, senior officials from 23 Central Ministries and all State Governments/UTs attended the Conference. The International Labour Organisation Experts based at Delhi were also present.

Shri Kharge referred the Prime Minister inaugural address in which he emphasized the great importance that the UPA Government attaches to the promotion of healthy industrial relations and well being of our workforce.

Shri Kharge said our huge unorganized sector poses great challenges in ensuring quality employment and extension social security coverage. Minimum Wages are an important means of protecting the interest of the workers were not in the formal sector. Our flagship health insurance scheme "Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana" has covered 2.5 crore Below Poverty Line families and this Scheme is being extended to cover other category of workers.

According to the minister the Conference Committee on "Minimum Wages" recommended that the Minimum Wages Act should cover all employments and thus facilitate India's ratification of ILO's Convention No.131. There was convergence of views towards making National Minimum Wages and make it applicable to any employment irrespective of the number of workers engaged. Objective suggestions were made for linking minimum wages with NSSO Consumer Expenditure Survey and inflation.

Also the Conference Committee on "Social Security" had very focused discussion and came out with specific recommendations in the areas of raising the wage ceiling in the Employees Provident Fund, enhancement of pension under Employees Pension Scheme 95, portability of PF Account, reduction in the requirement of minimum continuous service, etc. The Committee addressed the gender issues by recommending enhancement of maternity leave. The MSME Sector and unorganized sector workers received special attention of the committee members. Our Ministry's RSBY Scheme has achieved a lot of success and various recommendations were received for bringing other category of workers under its coverage and adding other type of benefits in addition to the existing ones.

Moreover, the Conference Committee on "Employability and Employment" recommendations laid stress on matching the large scale skilling targets with creating similar number of openings in the area of employment. Labour intensive industries need to be promoted and protected. The forthcoming National Employment Policy should be able to provide enabling framework for facilitating employment generation and decent work in the unorganized sector. The Labour Market Information System should give real time information about skill requirements and skill availability. Other innovative suggestion were bringing the traditional skills under the certification system and involving MSMEs in skill development. The road map for skilling 500 million persons by 2022 should be finalized in consultation with the tripartite partners.

Shri Kharge said, this Session of the Conference carried forward the rich tradition of healthy social dialogue, spirit of accommodation and keeping interest of our workforce as the top most priority. The tripartite partners have shown full concern to the important responsibility we have towards our country's growth and safeguarding the basic interest of our workers. We will be very closely following up with the implementation of policy solutions arrived at the Conference and the same will be reviewed in the meeting of the next Standing Labour Committee.

The Recommendations of the Conference Committee on Employability and Employment are:

1. Employment generation and Employability should be top agenda of the Govt.

2. Though lot of focus is being laid on training of 500 million persons by 2022, there is a need to take appropriate measures for creation of employment opportunities to offer the matching employment.

3. There is an urgent need to declare the National Employment Policy in order to provide enabling framework for facilitating employment generation and decent working conditions for all.

4. Investment in labour intensive industries should be promoted and incentivised.

5. Labour Market Information System should be established to get skill requirement from the industry and available skills from the institutes. In this regard, employment exchanges may be modernized for providing virtual job market on real time basis.

6. Skill mapping should be done at the local level and inventory of skill assets should be created.

7. ITIs should also focus on sectors beyond manufacturing and should concentrate on service sector. There is urgent need for quality assurance measures in training of ITIs and instructors.

8. Emphasis should be laid on development of infrastructure including storage, processing and marketing in rural areas and agro-based industries.

9. ITIs should focus more on popular trades keeping in view the requirement of the local industries.

10. Institutional arrangements for providing training in traditional skills should be encouraged and may brought under certification system.

11. Public awareness programme should be taken up, particularly in rural areas regarding the importance of skill development and certification of traditional skills.

12. There should be functional and spatial integration of State and Central infrastructure and other available resources for optimal utilization of resources.

13. MSMEs should be encouraged and supported to participate in the skill development efforts.

14. Stipend of apprentices under the Apprentices Act should be enhanced.

15. Existing and new Centres of Excellence/Clusters in traditional crafts should be strengthened and provided support in terms of marketing, credit, new technology, etc. to promote self-employment.

16. Barriers should be removed from skilling and certification of illiterate and uneducated workers.

17. Entrepreneurship and self-employment should be encouraged by providing necessary support.

18. Existing employment in the unorganized sector should be safeguarded by assuring access to natural resources for those sectors dependent on them. In order to increase their productivity, appropriate advanced tools and technology for traditional producers should be developed.

19. Skill development should be promoted among the women and differently-abled persons. To increase participation of women in skill development, special measures should be taken.

20. Centres of Excellence should be established at the national and State levels which will produce world-class technicians.

21. National level consultation with all the stakeholders should be held immediately to finalize the road-map for preparing skill development plan leading to skilled force of 500 million persons by 2022.

22. Comprehensive steps should be taken to create environment for employment generation and protection.

23. Trainers should be trained in large numbers to meet growing requirement.

During the Conference a Committee was constituted to discuss Agenda Item No.(i) concerning Minimum Wages and related issues. These issues, inter alia, include norms for fixation/revision of minimum rates of wages, Variable Dearness Allowance(VDA), National Floor Level Minimum Wages etc. On the basis of detailed discussion, the following points emerged.

1. There was consensus that the Government may fix minimum wages as per the norms/ criteria recommended by the 15th ILC (1957) and the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court (Repttakos Co. Vs Workers' Union) 1992. The Government may take necessary steps accordingly.

2. There was a broad consensus that the Minimum Wages Act should cover all employments and the existing restriction for its applicability on the scheduled employments only should be deleted. This will also help India ratify ILO Convention No.131.

3. It was broadly agreed that there should be national minimum wages applicable to all employments throughout the country.

4.There was broad agreement on the amendment proposals as listed out in Para 5(iv, v & x).

5. In respect of 5 (iv), it was pointed out that the payment to the apprentices should be treated differently from the other categories.

6.The Committee noted that at present there are 12 States/UTs who have not adopted VDA. There was a broad consensus that all States/Uts should adopt VDA.

7. It was also recommended that the payment of minimum wages should be done through Banks/Post Offices etc.

8. As regards 5(vi), it was felt that the enforcing agencies should not be given the power of adjudication and, therefore, this proposal should be re-examined.

9. The proposal of paying different minimum wages in respect of same employment either in the Centre or in the State should be done away with.

A Conference Committee was also constituted to discuss the agenda item No. (iii) i.e. "Social Security". On the basis of detailed discussions, the following points emerged :-

(i) There was a broad-based consensus that the wage ceiling for the application of EPF Act be increased from the present level of Rs.6,500/- to Rs.10,000/- or Rs.15,000/- as already applicable for the ESI Corporation. Similarly, the ceiling for workers covered under EPF Act be reduced from 20 to 10. However, Laghu Udyog Bharati was not agreeable to this reduction in ceiling of number of workers.

(ii) Minimum pension under the EPS 95 be increased to some floor level, which should not be less than Rs.1,000/-, since a large number of workers receive pension which is less than that provided by the State Governments for elderly people which is normally in the range of Rs.400/- to Rs.1000/-.

(iii) The PF Accounts be computerized urgently so that the workers are able to avail the facility of PF transfer and settlement immediately. Smart Cards like RSBY be issued to PF account holders.

(iv) Minimum ceiling of 5 years of continuous service be reduced in case of gratuity and gratuity be made transferable in case of change of job by the employee.

(v) The maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act be increased from the present level of 12 weeks to 24 weeks. Thsis increased maternity benefits be made available only upto two children, while the lower limit be continued for more than two children.

(vi) Accountability on the part of organizations implementing the social security schemes be fixed in order to ensure that the beneficiaries receive the deliverables in time. Citizen Charters for these organizations be finalized early.

Friday, February 24, 2012

A BRIEF ON ENTITLEMENT OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FOR GENERAL POOL RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION

What is General Pool residential accommodation?

Government residential accommodations under the administrative control of Directorate of Estates in Delhi and at 31 stations outside Delhi constitute the General Pool residential accommodation (GPRA).Allotmentof GPRA is governed as per provisions of the Allotment of Government Residences (General Pool inDelhi) Rules, 1963 and executive instructions issued there under.

Who is eligibleto apply?

AllCentral Governmentemployees and the employees working under the Government of NCT of Delhi, who are working in the offices, which have been specifically declared eligible for General Pool, are entitled for allotment of accommodation from General Pool.

What are entitlements for various types of accommodation?

The General Pool accommodation has been classified in 11 categories (excludingHostel accommodation). The entitlement of an applicant for a particular type is determined with reference to the basicdrawn by him on 1st January of the current calendar year.

The eligibilityGradepay / Basic Pay for various types of accommodation is as under:

Type of Residences

Grade Pay / Basic Pay

I

Rs.1,300, Rs.1,400, Rs.1600, Rs.1650 and Rs.1,800

II

Rs.1,900, Rs.2,000, Rs.2,400 and Rs.2,800

III

Rs.4,200, Rs.4,600 and Rs.4,800

IV

Rs.5,400 to Rs.6,600

IV (Spl)

Rs. 6,600

V-A (D-II)

Rs.7,600 and Rs.8,000

V-B (D-I)

Rs.8,700 and Rs.8,900

VI-A (C-II)

Rs.10,000

VI-B (C-I)

Rs.67,000 to Rs.74,999

VII

Rs.75000 to Rs.79,999

VIII

Rs.80,000 and above

The eligible Grade pay notified for Hostel Accommodation.

Type of Hostel

Grade Pay

Single Suite (Without Kitchen)

Rs.4,200 and above

Single Suite (With Kitchen)

Rs.4,200 and above

Double Suite

Rs.5,400 and above

Working Girl Hostel

All lady officers without limit of emolument shall be eligible

(a) The eligibility of an officer for Government Accommodation shall be determined as per grade pay of such officer in his present post held in the Government of India.

(b) the date of priority in respect of lower type accommodation i.e Type-IV shall be date of joining in the service of the Government of India,

(c) the inter-se seniority for higher type accommodation shall be considered on the basis of following principles, namely:

(i) firstly the Grade Pay of the officer;

(ii) secondly the priority date within the same Grade Pay. In this case the priority date shall be the date from which the applicant continuously drawing his existing Grade Pay;

(iii) where the priority date of two or more officers is the same, the inter-se seniority of the officers shall be determined on the basis of the basic pay i.e, the officers who have a higher pay shall be senior in the waiting list,

(iv) where the priority date and the basic pay ot two or more officers are the same, the earlier date of joining in the service of the Government of India shall be the next determining principle of inter-se seniority,

(v) where the priority date, basic pay and date of joining in the service of the Government of India of two or more officers are the same, the officer retiring earlier may be accorded higher priority over the officer retiring later,

(d) the principle of determining the inter-se seniority of two or more officers as specified in sub-clause (ii) of clause (c) shall be implemented from the 1st January, 2010.

(e) where Type-V and Type-VI accommodation has not been classified as Type V-A and Type V-B and Type-VI-A and Type-VI-B respectively, all the officers eligible for Type-V shall be grouped together and similarly those eligible for Typ-VI shall also be grouped together,

(f) in the case of Secretary to the Government of India and Additional Secretary to the Government of India, the date of joining in the Government of India at Delhi shall determine their inter-se seniority subject to condition that no junior batch officer of the same service shall get priority over his senior batch officer. Where the date of joining is the same, the date of retirement shall determine their inter-se seniority on the principle that the earlier date shall be given priority over the later date. Other than All India Services (AIS), the date of joining the Government of India, irrespective of the place of posting and service/batch seniority, shall determine the inter-se seniority,

(g) officers entitled for Type-V and above accommodation shall also be eligible toapply for accommodation below their entitlement subject to the condition that such accommodation shall not be below Type-IV Spl. accommodation. However, the officers eligible for D-II and Type-IV Spl. shall also eligible toapply forType-IV accommodation.

JOINT CONSULTATION AND COMPULSORY ARBITRATION FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.

THE MACHINERY FOR JOINT CONSULTATION AND COMPULSORY ARBITRATION

The Scheme for Joint Consultation and Compulsory Arbitration for the Central Government Employees was introduced in the year 1966 on the lines of the Whitely Councils of the United Kingdom. This is a declaration of joint intent regarding the common approach of the Government of India on the one hand and the employees' organisations on the other for joint consultation and smooth working. The basic objectives of the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) are as under:-

To promote harmonious relations between the government and its employees.

●To secure the greatest measure of cooperation between the government in its capacity as employer and the general body of its employees in matters of common concern; and

●To increase the efficiency of the public services, through a collaborative endeavour, to narrow the area of "unresolved differences" and widen the ambit of agreement on substantive issues of common concern.

The JCM scheme provides for a three tier machinery:

(i) the National Council as the apex body; (chaired by the Cabinet Secretary)

(ii) Departmental Councils at the level of individual Ministries / Departments including their attached and subordinate offices and (chaired by respective Secretaries)

(iii) Regional / Office Councils to deal with mainly the local problems at the level of each individual office, depending on its structure. (chaired by Head of office of respective organisations) The scope of the JCM Scheme includes all matters relating to:

●conditions of service and work,

●welfare of the employees and

●improvement of efficiency and standards of work, provided, however, that

(i) in regard to recruitment, promotion and discipline, consultation is limited to matters of general principles; and

(ii) individual cases are not considered.

Under the scheme, there have been continuous interactions with staff unions at the national level as well as at the departmental level and a number of important issues have been resolved amicably through mutual discussions. Forty five meetings of the council have been held since the inception of the scheme in 1966.

Standing Committee-There have been frequent interactions with the staff side through the meetings of the Standing Committee of National Council (JCM). Many issues of the employees of the major ministries / departments like Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Defence and Department of Posts have been resolved through negotiations and interactions with the unions / federations at the departmental level.

During the year 2008, a meeting of Standing Committee of the National Council (JCM) has been held on 7 March,2008. A special Standing Committee meeting to discuss the items relating to 6th Central Pay Commission was held on 7 May, 2008. A meeting under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary was held on 17 May. 2008 with the Standing Committee members to discuss issues relating to the 6th Central Pay Commission.

Arbitration- An important feature of the JCM Scheme is the provision for arbitration in cases where there is no agreement on an issue between the official side and the staff side on matters relating to:-

●pay and allowances;

●weekly hours of work; and

●leave of a class or grade of employees.

Board of Arbitration (BOA)- A Board of Arbitration (BOA) comprising a chairman (who is an independent person) and two members,(nominated one each by staff side and official side) is functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Labour. Awards of the Board of Arbitration are binding on both the sides, subject to the over-riding authority of the Parliament to reject or modify the awards. Under JCM scheme, 259 references have been made to the Board so far, for settlement. Out of these 257 have been decided by BOA. Most of the awards which were in favour of the employees, have been implemented, except a few which could not be accepted due to adverse affect on national economy / social justice.

The details of the break of 257 cases decided by the Board of Arbitration is given in table one and action taken by the government on 177 cases are given in table 2:-

TABLE -1 BREAK-UP 0F 257 CASES DECIDED BY BOA

Demands of Staff Side accepted partially or fully by Award Board of Arbitration

DEPARTMENT ISSUED ORDERS ON : COMPASSIONATE ENGAGEMENT ON GDS POSTS TO DEPANDANTS OF GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS DISCHARGED ON MEDICAL GROUNDS BASED ON PROOF OF INVALIDATION PRIOR TO 14.12.2010.

Government of India

Ministry of Communication & IT

Department of Posts

(GDS Section)

Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg

New Delhi – 110001

No. 19-19/2009-GDS Dated: 21 Feb 2012

SUB: CONSIDERATATION OF COMPASSIONATE ENGAGEMENT ON GDS POSTS TO DEPANDANTS OF GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS DISCHARGED ON MEDICAL GROUNDS BASED ON PROOF OF INVALIDATION PRIOR TO 14.12.2010

A reference is invited to Para 7(d) of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDS dated 14.12.2010 wherein it was provided that "this percentage of 10% shall only apply to cover cases of wards of deceased GDS and not to GDS acquiring disability during service defined in the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 provides that no establishment shall dispense with or reduce in rank an employee who acquires a disability during his service as also no promotion shall be denied to a person merely on the ground of his disability. In case of a GDS acquiring a disability during his service and is considered to be unsuitable for the GDS post he was holding, could be shifted to some other post with the same TRCA." The ceiling of 10% was further removed with revised provisions under this Directorate letter No. even dated 01.08.2011.

2. The issue of allowing compassionate engagements to one of the dependant of the GDS discharged on invalidation on medical grounds supported by the invalidation proof has been considered in this Directorate and it has now been decided to allow considering compassionate engagement to one of the words of invalidated GDS discharged before the date of issue of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDS dated 14.12.2010 on consideration of the indigent condition of the family taking recourse to the application of the same provisions of compassionate engagement and process as were in force at the time of discharge of the GDS on invalidation, without a further reference to this Directorate.

3. It is, however, clarified once again that the provision contained in Para 7 (d) of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDS dated 14.12.2010 as amended may be observed scrupulously and no GDS is allowed to be discharged on invalidation observing the provisions of Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. In case a GDS acquires a disability during his service and is considered to be unsuitable for the GDS post he was holding, he/she may be shifted to some other post with the same TRCA. If at all some genuine difficulty arises about the nature of work to be extracted from him and the concerned HOC is personally convinced of the grounds in individual cases, the Circles may take up the issue of appropriate cases with the Training Division of this Directorate.

4. The instructions contained in Para 7(d) of this Directorate letter No. 17-17/2010-GDS dated 14.12.2010 & the present instructions would cover the cases of the GDS where a GDS was permitted to be discharged during the period from 01.01.1996 to 13.12.2010 by the prescribed appointing authority based on medical invalidation by a medical board of a Government Hospital and the disability would cover only the disabilities mentioned and defined in Section 2 of the PWD Act, 1995." While considering the cases under this provision, Head of the Circle would personally ensure that only the cases fulfilling the requisite conditions are considered for compassionate engagement.

5. The above provisions may be brought to the notice of all concerned for strict compliance. This issue with the approval of Secretary (Posts).

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

PFRDA CALLS FOR FUND MANAGERS TO LOOK AFTER

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (NPS)

Pension fund regulator PFRDA has invited bids from financial institutions to manage funds of Central Government Employees under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) for the next three years beginning April 1, 2012.

The fund managers will be required to manage the pension assets of Central government employees, according to Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

The three pension fund managers will have to submit bids by March 15, PFRDA said. At present, pension funds of government employees are managed by three pension fund managers (PFMs) — LIC Pension Fund, SBI Pension Fund, and UTI Retirement Solutions. The total corpus of the government employees as on December 2011 was Rs 12,769 crore.

These three fund managers are also eligible for participating in the bidding process, the regulator said. The total average monthly subscriptions of government employees is around Rs 500 crore.

National Pension System (NPS) was introduced on January 1, 2004, and is mandatory for central government employees (except armed forces personnel) appointed on or after January 2004. The scheme was made available to all citizens on a voluntary basis from May 1, 2009.

Even though NPS is an immensely beneficial financial product for unorganised sector employees, especially those who do not manage a steady source of income after retirement, it has received lukewarm response till now.

To popularise the scheme, PFRDA, in September 2010, introduced the Swavalamban scheme. Under this scheme, the government contributed Rs 1,000 per year to each NPS account opened in the year 2010-11 and for the next three years, i.E., 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. To be eligible, a person has to make a minimum contribution of Rs 1,000 and maximumcontribution of Rs 12,000 per annum.